Royals Parker and Kipkie named to NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings
Parker and Kipkie were ranked 93rd and 107th respectively among NA Skaters
Victoria Royals players Kalem Parker and Justin Kipkie were named to NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of North American skaters presented by BioSteel for the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft.
NHL Central Scouting announced its final lists of top North American skaters, goalies and International skaters and goalies, ahead of the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft, which will take place on June 28-29 in Nashville.
Parker moved up from being ranked 113th on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm ranking of North American skaters, to 93rd on the Final Rankings. He was awarded the Royals 2023 Wilson’s Transportation Top Defenseman Award after posting 6 goals and 32 assists for 38 points in 68 games during the 2022-23 campaign. The Royals 2nd round pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft has played three seasons in Victoria.
Kipkie was ranked 107th by NHL Central Scouting on their final ranking of North American skaters, after being unranked on the midterm rankings. Kipkie finished first in WHL Rookie Defenseman Scoring with 8 goals and 25 assists for 33 points in 67 games during the 2022-23 season. The Royals 6th round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft was also awarded the team’s Jo Ann Thompson Foundation Scholastic Player of the Year and Island Savings Rookie of the Year awards.
About the Victoria Royals
The Victoria Royals are a Canadian major junior ice hockey club in the Western Hockey League (WHL) owned and operated by GSL Group. The Royals play all their home games at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre and have entered their 12th season of their existence.
About Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (SOFMC) is designed, constructed, developed and operated by GSL Group. SOFMC is Victoria’s premier entertainment facility and the largest arena in British Columbia outside Vancouver. The state-of-the-art 7,000 seat facility is home to the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League and regularly hosts large-scale concerts and other special events such as figure skating, curling, plays, trade shows and conferences. SOFMC also features a fine dining Lion’s Den Restaurant, as well as retail and meeting space.
